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Help me beg Christian leaders for my comments – Bello tells Osinbajo

Kogi State governor, Yahaya
Bello, has again apologised to Catholic Bishops and the entire Christendom over
his February 9, comments on the visit of the Catholic Bishops to President
Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Villa.

The clerics last week met Buhari
in a close door meeting.

They told the President that
Nigerians were angry about alleged bad governance and imbalance in the system.

But addressing State House
Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after the juma’at service on
Friday, the governor took a swipe at them.

He said those who had looted the
country’s funds were angry because sources of their free money had been blocked
by the current government.

On Tuesday, Bello at the maiden
Kogi State Economic and Investment Summit, held in Lokoja, asked Vice
President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to convey his apology to Christian leaders
nationwide.

“Let me take a moment out of this
event to address an issue which is dear to my heart”, Bello said.

“I have been mortified since last
Friday when a comment I made during a chat with journalists at the State House,
Abuja after Juma’at prayers caused an uproar, which is still raging in the
press.

“In responding to a question
related to the visit of Catholic Bishops to the President and some of their
views on the state of the nation to him, it has been reported that I said
things which are disrespectful.

“Not only to our revered
spiritual fathers in that delegation, but also to Christians in general.

“My exact words were those that
have looted the country dry and normally go to churches and mosques to pay
tithes are no longer doing so. Of course, this is the category of people who
are angry,” he stated.

The governor said that he was
trying to generalise, and spoke to the two major religions, only to realise
that the word, ‘tithe’, made it appear as if he specifically targeted
Christians.

“I have spoken to My Lord, His
Grace, Bishop Ignatius Kaigama, President of the Nigerian Bishops’ Conference
and President of the Episcopal Conference of West African Catholic Bishops on
this.

“To all of my Christian brethren,
I apologise for anyway in which I have hurt your sensibilities.

“I also pray my August Guest
today, His Excellency the Vice President to help convey to our Christian
leaders and brethren all over the world that I would never dream of
disrespecting them. I hold all faiths in high regard,” he pleaded.